Former Ireland and Leinster back Luke Fitzgerald is stunned by Rhys Ruddock’s omission from Andy Farrell’s Six Nations squad.
The new head coach named his first squad last week and despite naming a total of six back-rows among the squad, Ruddock is not one of them and while speaking on the Independent.ie’s rugby podcast, The Left Wing, Fitzgerald admitted he is “astonished”.
“I thought it was an amazing omission. I thought it was a stinker. I thought it was a complete cop-out. He is the easy guy to drop. He was one of our only good players out at the World Cup. He has been excellent for Leinster for a very long period of time and even though he has had a few injuries and might not always be picked because Leinster rotate him, he is always picked for the big games when he is fit. He is a captain, so he is a leader in there as well. I just don’t get,” he said.
Ruddock’s form has been at a high-level for some time now and was seen by many as a shining light during Ireland’s Rugby World Cup campaign last year.
However, Ruddock’s Leinster team-mates Josh van der Flier, Max Deegan and Caelan Doris were joined in the squad by Munster trio CJ Stander, Peter O’Mahony and Jack O’Donoghue as the back-row options.
Fitzgerald believes that maybe head coach Farrell is looking for something different in his back-row options and that Ruddock doesn’t fit the bill, but still can’t understand his decision.
“People see the game differently. I find that one really hard to understand but look, it shows you that people can focus in on small parts of someone’s game and that is obviously what has cost him. It baffles me but they are obviously looking at something and saying that other players do that better but I find it astonishing,” he added.
Fitzgerald was among many to suggest that Ruddock could be an option as a potential Ireland captain before the announcement and his omission doesn’t seem to have gone down well amongst fans.
However, for now Ruddock isn’t in the squad, and it remains to be seen if he will be brought in if there are any injuries. The Ireland squad are currently preparing for their opening Six Nations game against Scotland on Saturday February 1st, while Ruddock remains in the Leinster squad.
